The storm is causing widespread damage in North America
The death toll in the New York city of Buffalo has risen to 28, with thousands still powerless during the winter storm that hit North America.
In the US, at least 62 people have died in weather-related events.
In Buffalo, a government official said military police are being brought in to help clear traffic in the city, where a driving ban remains in place.
Theft has been reported in some parts of the city during the crisis.
The snowstorm also forced the cancellation of thousands of flights, including 4,800 on Tuesday morning alone. Thousands and thousands of passengers were left behind at airports across the country.
Conditions are expected to improve, with less snow falling on Tuesday and some warming on the way.
At a press conference on Tuesday, officials in New York’s Erie County – which includes Buffalo – said the death toll was expected to rise as search and rescue operations continued. The 28 confirmed deaths were all in Buffalo.
“All the numbers are not in at this point,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said. “We know [Erie] County is a big number.”
More than 4,000 people in the area were left without power after the storm, which Mr Brown said was “probably” the worst in many residents‘ lives. At the height of the storm, about 20,000 people were without power.
Mr Brown added that there had been an “improvement” in the city, with less snowfall and cleaner conditions allowing officials to make “significant progress” as they remove cars and restore power.
Officials warned that warmer temperatures in the region could cause more problems, including flooding as the snow melts.
In Erie County, city officials on Tuesday were removing ice and debris from storm drains ahead of what officials called “rapid melting”.
Mark Poloncarz, the head of Erie County where Buffalo is located, said that 100 military police and other state police are being brought in to help control traffic in the area, where the situation remains “bad” on many local roads.
Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gragmalia said the robbery was “still ongoing”. Currently, four people have been arrested.
“These are not people who steal food, medicines and diapers,” he said. “They’re destroying stores. They’re stealing televisions, sofas, anything else they can find. They have a chance.”
On Monday, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, approved an emergency declaration allowing federal support for New York State. “My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones this holiday weekend,” he tweeted.
State Governor Kathy Hochul, a native of Buffalo, described the storm as “the windiest of the century”.
“It’s like going to a war zone, and the cars on the side of the road are scaring you.”
Officials in New York said emergency workers were forced to go from car to car looking for storm survivors, sometimes finding bodies in cars and snow banks.
Poloncarz said some of the dead died of cardiac arrest while shoveling snow, with Buffalo state issuing a “Shovel Smart” warning, notifying people that overexertion from shoveling snow can cause heart attacks or spinal cord injuries. While three more deaths were confirmed on Tuesday morning, the two deaths previously reported were “unrelated to the storm”, he added.
Wyoming County medical teams respond to the call as Buffalo deals with the snow storm
Harrowing tales
Some local residents described a terrifying escape from the storm in the past few days. Read also : July 7 Vallejo / Vacaville Arts & Entertainment Source: Faces and Spaces.
A local family with young children – aged two to six – had to wait 11 hours before being rescued in the early hours of Christmas Day (Sunday).
“I was hopeless,” the father, Zila Santiago, told CBS News. He said he was able to stay warm by keeping the engine running, and kept the stress at bay by playing with the children.
Ditjak Ilunga of Gaithersburg, Maryland, told CBS News that he was on his way to visit relatives in Hamilton, Ontario, with his daughters when their SUV was intercepted in Buffalo.
After spending hours with the engine running he made the desperate decision to risk the storm to get to a nearby shelter.
He carried 6-year-old Destiny on his back while 16-year-old Cindy held their Pomeranian puppy, and followed his footsteps in the deep snow.
“If I stay in this car, I will die here with my children,” Mr. Ilunga remembered thinking.
He said he cried when the family entered through the doors of the houses. “It’s something I will never forget in my life,” he said.
While the largest number of deaths was reported in New York, storm-related deaths were reported in the US, including Vermont, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Colorado.
At the end of the week, an estimated 250 homes, businesses were shut down, although electricity was gradually restored. However, tens of thousands of people remained without electricity on Tuesday.
Write on the way to US cold places
In Canada, the province between Ontario and Quebec, in the northeast, bore the brunt of the storm.
Ontario’s Prince Edward County, along with Lake Ontario, declared a state of emergency and had to take snow plows to the roads because they were in danger of sticking, Mayor Steve Ferguson told CBC News.
Four elephants were killed when a bus rolled on an icy road near the town of Merritt, in the western province of British Columbia.
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